


game point

by noyabeans (snowdrops)



Series: writing with snowdrops (timeskip arc) [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Missing Scene, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:07:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22418236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowdrops/pseuds/noyabeans
Summary: In Atsumu's third year, Inarizaki plays Karasuno at the Spring High once more.Contains spoilers for the current manga arc, up to chapter 378.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu & Hinata Shouyou, Miya Atsumu & Miya Osamu
Series: writing with snowdrops (timeskip arc) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608889
Comments: 7
Kudos: 281





	game point

There’s been an odd sense of sentimentality and excitement thrumming in Atsumu’s veins ever since they arrived in Tokyo. This Spring High is many things: it is his last high school tournament, a countdown until his last official game with Osamu, and the last time he’ll get to play a tournament with this team.

But beyond that lies anticipation, the familiar rush of competition thrilling no matter how many times he’s experienced it. And to top it all off, the brackets have blessed them this year; if Karasuno survives their first two rounds, they’ll be able to play the rematch he’s been dreaming of for the last year.

Busy with their own matches as Inarizaki are, he doesn’t get to watch Karasuno play, but he hears the murmurs anyway — _did you hear? That school from Miyagi, they trashed Inarizaki last year in the second round! They have a middle blocker who really can jump! No wonder they blew away their matches this year too! They might even throw out Inarizaki again tomorrow!_

It stings, the reminder of their loss, but a loss is a loss and losers have no voices. Osamu throws him a pointed look and an eyeroll, not letting up the pace as they leave the arena, as though Atsumu’s gonna what, turn around and tell those people to suck it and watch them tomorrow? Fine, maybe he _had_ been considering it, but _look—_

Karasuno’s lineup this year is interesting. Their libero’s eyes are still sharp as he looks over to Atsumu in what is probably a greeting, but comes off as a challenge anyway. Tobio-kun and Hinata look the same as they did, in that menacing, inhuman way of theirs; Hinata even waves at him when they meet eyes, and Atsumu is overcome by both the biggest wave of fondness and intimidation all at once. (It immediately passes when Tobio-kun says something that makes Hinata turn around and kick him solidly in the knee. Not the smartest of places to kick, in Atsumu’s opinion, considering they have a match to play in less than ten minutes.)

He even catches their tall glasses middle blocker glaring at Suna, and a glance back tells him that Suna looks positively delighted. Crazy, the lot of them. Atsumu can’t wait.

In comparison, their captain looks unremarkable. Atsumu might even go as far as to call him plain, but the way that the entire team flocks to surround him, all menace vanishing in an instant, makes him think twice about that statement. Anyone who can captain a team of monsters like that must surely be a monster himself.

They’ve gotten good, Atsumu is pleased and annoyed to find. It’s not like Inarizaki hasn’t — his serves have gotten way better, and his jump floaters earned them five points straight against their opponents in their previous match, but their libero’s picking them all up where he’d been struggling this time last year.

Their captain, too — he’s not a spectacularly talented player, but he saves a fair number of balls that would have been instant losses for lesser teams, running for each as though his life depends on it. He reminds Atsumu of Kita-san, actually, with the determined set to his mouth and general aura of sleepy calmness that surrounds him.

Of course, Hinata and Tobio-kun are as marvellous as ever, their freak quick still stunning to watch up close. But it’s not like he and Osamu have been resting on their laurels, either. The freak quick isn’t unique to Karasuno, and he’s tossed it enough to Osamu over the last year for them to pull it off comfortably in matches. He’d deliberately not broken it out during their first two rounds of the tournament, just so that he could take Karasuno by surprise. Paying homage to the source and all, you know.

All in all, it’s a long and drawn-out fight, but when the score is at 31-32 with Inarizaki in the lead, Atsumu tosses Osamu a ball that’s a little faster than their usual. Somewhere along the way, he's stopped thinking about revenge. He doesn’t have many more chances to play with Osamu anymore, so every ball counts. Every game counts. He'll make sure they play as long as they can together before they finally can’t. He’s not going to tell Osamu this, duh, but the sentiment is there.

Still, Osamu must know what he’s thinking, because when he hits it, Karasuno doesn’t even have time to react.

“It was a good match," Karasuno’s captain tells him when they shake hands at the net. His eyes are calm and he's got a firm grip. The rest of his team, however, donn't look half as collected as he does. "Thank you for the game."

He feels for them, he really does. Losing right before the quarterfinals is tough, what more in a match against old opponents. 

When he comes to Hinata, he’s already looking up at Atsumu with furious eyes, tears already welling up. That’s the harshness of volleyball, after all — you lose, you win, you lose, you win. Just like every rally will end with a ball landing on one side of the court, every match must have a winner, and every match must have a loser. It's the way the game works. 

“We lost last year, you lost today. I think that makes us even, right?” he says, even as he stretches out his hand to Hinata. Hinata’s hand is so small in his own, it’s unbelievable how much power he holds.

Atsumu’s heart yearns with an itch he cannot scratch. He’s thought a lot about what will come after high school, when he no longer has Osamu to toss to, and the answer now, just like a year ago, still stands on the other side of the net.

“One day, maybe the two of us will win together.”

**Author's Note:**

>  ~~I wrote this because I wanted to write captain Ennoshita Chikara. Unfortunately, it seems like Miya Atsumu~~ The timeskip arc has taken over my single brain cell. 
> 
> [tumblr (rielity)](https://rielity.tumblr.com/) | [twitter (noyabeans)](https://twitter.com/noyabeans) | [haikyuu writing journal](https://noyabeans.dreamwidth.org/)
> 
> ~~I am very sorry to everyone who has me on subscriptions because I have added four fics to this series in the course of a week. I intend to write more so please bear with me.~~


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